The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has offered to extend Rahul Dravid’s contract as India’s head coach in a move that implies continuity. The BCCI approached Dravid last week, with the extension being for an indefinite period of time. However, it is unclear whether Dravid has accepted the offer. One major reason the BCCI was eager to keep Dravid was to maintain continuity to the framework he had put in place over the previous two years, which would have been disturbed had a new head coach been appointed.
If Dravid accepts the offer, his first assignment in his second stint will be India’s tour of South Africa, which begins with the white-ball leg on December 10. India will play three T20Is and three ODIs each and then two Tests in Centurion (from December 26) and Cape Town (from January 3). Then there’s the home Test series against England, followed by the 2024 T20I World Cup in June. If Dravid continues as the head coach, he is expected to keep the same team of assistant coaches he joined hands with in 2021, Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach), and T Dilip (fielding coach).
Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri after the T20 World Cup in 2021, and was appointed for a two-year stint that ended with India finishing second in the ODI World Cup. That was India’s joint-best performance at an ICC event under Dravid’s coaching, following a World Test Championship final loss to Australia in June. Previously, India was defeated by England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-finals.
After the ODI World Cup final loss, Dravid had said he was delighted and proud that India was ranked No.1 across the three formats, but the absence of an ICC trophy was a “disappointment”. When asked several times if he planned to stay in the role, Dravid claimed he hadn’t given it much thought because he was too busy preparing for the World Cup.
I haven’t thought about it. I have no time to think about this, and no time to reflect on this, Dravid admitted. I will when I get the time to do that. But at this point of time, I was completely focused on this campaign. It was focused on this World Cup, and there was nothing else on my mind. And I haven’t given any other thought to what happens in the future, he concluded.
